I will sing of the Lord’s great love forever; with my mouth I will make your faithfulness known through all generations. I will declare that your love stands firm forever, that you established your faithfulness in heaven itself. Psalm 89:1-2
It is with an over flowing heart of gratitude to God for all that he has done and continues to do as He showers us with love and makes himself known!
Wishing you a wonderful Thanksgiving!
As mentioned in previous Blogs I was a young girl when my mom moved me to California. To this day I am thankful she found a good man to help raise me and that I could call daddy. As children we can conjure up all kinds of “ideas” and “reason” as to why our families are no longer living together, happy and loving one another. Truth may be we are no longer capable of living together but we can still “parent” together. And most importantly, we can still love our children together even though we’re apart.
Yes, some parents leave. Sometimes never to return. By “abandoning” they leave deep wounds.
And many parents stay. They work hard to give their children what they need to grow and become their best self. They give them family, love and a place to belong. God bless these parents, and I know He will.
My oldest son and his wife have a blended family. Both families work well together and parent with love. I am proud of them for the work they’ve done and happy to say my granddaughter is thriving. I’ve watched her grow into a confident, talented and happy young lady. I am not saying they don’t have challenges. There are challenges in every home. But the difference they’ve made is all parents are working together to create a loving home for their child!
Not all families have a happy ending. In fact, the family I worked hard to create did not have a happy ending. There were years of challenges with heartache. My divorce ended ugly and my ex refused to cooperate with me for the good of our youngest son. It was a heart wrenching journey from fear to faith as I worked through the consequences of divorce.
My hope is for us to leave our children free to love and be loved by their parents. And if one parent walks away from their responsibility then the remaining parent will work to assure their child knows it is not any fault of theirs. Today I share this song by Kelly Clarkson, Piece by Piece and as we go from fear to faith we help our children to the other side. (Matthew 7:12)
I always leave San Jose feeling emotional after visiting with the kids and my grandchildren. As I check in at SJC I of course check in on Facebook letting my friends know how I am feeling. The “Feeling” popup gives so much emotion I am unable to post them all…It’s like a rollercoaster weekend in more ways than one as I try to cram as much fun in as possible with the girls. My anticipated excitement of hanging out with all of them as I prepare to travel to the Bay Area, and wrapping those sweet little girls in my arms reminds me of how time is fleeting, and how we must cherish every minute we have with those we love.
It’s a joy to hang out with these little ones watching the world through their eyes, and hearing about the world from their point of view as they share their stories. Kids see everything as exciting, cool and fun. They don’t care if they’re wearing the same swim suit all day. They don’t care if they play hard and their hair gets messed up. They love to eat dessert first. They love shiny rocks, meeting new friends, and singing out loud. They don’t see anything wrong with sitting on the edge of the pool growling at everyone that goes by (scene of a boy at the pool). They don’t hesitate to ask the questions we’d like to ask but lack the courage to do so. The other thing that gets me is how they can recharge after only resting for about 10 seconds and they feel great!
On one of my flights I had a 5 year old boy take the window seat when another passenger passed by and whispered to me, “He is a really cute little boy, you’ll enjoy him”. Not sure if she was warning me or saw a “look” on my face when he and dad squeezed into their seats. This was the little guy’s first plane ride and his brown eyes were as big as saucers as he watched out the window with excitement and kept repeating, “We’re flying!” While watching the plane rise above the buildings and mountain tops he looked out and said, “Wow, it’s a big place out there!”
As I leaned back in my seat I began to wonder why us adults can’t seem to enjoy our excursions with this much enthusiasm. It really is a big place out there and a wonderful thing to get on an airplane and fly to different destinations around the world. What if we got excited about these “little” things vs. being stressed out over cramming our legs and carryon bags into what feels like a very small space to bump shoulders with a stranger? What if we just said hi to strangers crossing our path and threw them a smile as we continued happily on our way. How simple it would be if we could muster up the courage to swim all day and not worry about our hair.
While at the pool waiting for the family to arrive I lost count of the many dads walking over to the side of the pool letting their kids know they had “just 5 more minutes.” I watched these kids “hurry” to take one more dive, one more jump, and one more swim to the other side of the pool in their last 5 minutes. They did not want it to end.
I quickly reflected back to the dad on the plane sitting next to me who asked if I had any kids. I told him yes but my kids are grown. He said, “How grown?” As I informed him they were married with kids of their own he of course gave me the compliment any gentleman would give. I told him to savor every moment as time passes quickly and he replied, “Really, well my little guy is active and doesn’t stop talking.” He looked a little exasperated!
I reminded him of how quickly they grow up and it happens in a blink of an eye. POOF and they’re off building lives and families of their own! All good things but do you ever think, “What if we had just 5 more minutes with them? What if we could go back to that memory that was so precious to experience one more time or the memory that wasn’t so precious and have a do over. What if we could have just 5 more minutes?
Some inspiration from one generation to another:
Psalms 145:4 “One generation commends your works to another; they tell of your mighty acts.”
Deuteronomy 4:9 “Only be careful, and watch yourselves closely so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen or let them fade from your heart as long as you live. Teach them to your children and to their children after them.”
Unknown “While we try to teach our children all about life, our children teach us what life is all about.”
Fear to Faith - A Journey to The Other Side 